Hi Tim,
We have just implememented this with our female partner. We have looked in
depth at appointments recently. It has always been my belief that if you
take more than 10 minutes per appointment then it is madness working to a 10
minute interval. She was frequently running very late and always over-ran
surgeries. Early days yet, but seems to be working well. She used to have
catch-up blanks and quite a few double slots, but these have largely gone
since she has had 15 minute appointments as she does have some consultations
that do not use the full 15 minutes. The way that we try things like this is
that we suck it and see, but remain adaptable to change back if it does not
work. We never assume that something will deffinitely work. Why not pilot it
with one partner??
Some may remember that I recently asked re ditching nurse triage of all
telephone calls and the patients being asked if they want an appointment or
can it be dealt with on the phone. Our NP was recently on holiday for 3
weeks, so we decided that we had nothing to loose by trialling it. It has
worked like a treat!! So, back to you initial query, why not try it and see
- but suggest that if you had blocks in surgeries and made use of double
appointments, that part of the deal is that most of these should go. Also
expand the surgery to an extent to comepensate for some lost appointments -
they will still finish at the same time or even earlier - BUT patinets will
not have been kept waiting and the clinician will not feel as 'frazzled'!!!
Best wishes
Paul Bromley
